After 5 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I found the wonder of mothering slowly starting to get crowded out by the mundane feeling. I realized our world seems to surround people with the negative, and complaining about blessings seems totally acceptable. So I decided to fight against that "normalcy" and focus only on the positive. I look back to my first year as a mom when everything was new and keeping house was fun and I aim to have that attitude again. This blog is my outlet to showcase the daily miracles that surround me in my blessed life as a stay-at-home mom so that I will never forget the wonder of it all.



Saturday, March 2, 2013

Butter

We are learning about the Pioneers in school right now.  And of course, when you learn about Pioneers, you MUST read a Laura Ingalls Wilder book.  I decided to start with Little House in the Big Woods because so much about their way of life is talked about in that book.  Hunting, trapping, food preserving, gardening, cooking....all that good daily life stuff.  I hope to finish this book and move into Little House on the Prairie next, where they are true Pioneers setting off on a trail to the West, before the end of March when our home school group will have a tour of our local Pioneer Museum. 

I wanted the kids to get a sense of how hard the Pioneers had to work for the things we take for granted today, such as the ease of a grocery store.  So, we made butter.  We did it as close as we could to how the process was described in the book.  We didn't have a churn, so we used mason jars with a marble inside to act as the dasher.

First we grated a carrot, added the shredded carrot to just a bit of milk, boiled it together, and strained out the orange colored milk with cheese cloth.

 Milk boiled shredded carrots, orange milk, and 3 jars of cream (plus someone's cup of milk from breakfast) :).
 
 In the book, Mary and Laura argued over who should get the biggest portion of the milk boiled carrot.  But in our house, no one argued.  We all tried it, but only Felicity and I liked it.  She happily downed it all.
 
We added a bit of the orange milk to each jar of cream, plopped a marble in each, and then the real work began!
 
 They rolled their jars........
 
 .....and shook their jars like crazy.
 

 But in the end, they decided the best way to make butter was to run circles through the dining room and living room area, shaking as they went, while listening to the Narnia soundtrack, and By and By by Selah  (if you take a listen, the dance part starts a minute into the recording).
 
 After what felt like eternity to Kian, the butter started clumping up in the jars!  When the sides of the mason jars became clear again as everything was clumping together, there was much excitement!  The kids each scooped their pads of butter out of the buttermilk, which these two then guzzled down.
 
We then washed and salted our butter. 
For lunch, we ate buttered sourdough, apples, cheese, and meat slices.  We each tried one slice of bread with store bought butter on it, and one slice with our homemade butter on it.  We all agreed we liked our butter best, though, we may have just been proud of our accomplishment and biased. 
:)
 
 
Note to self: This house NEEDS boy aprons.  Add that to the ever growing, sadly ignored sewing list.


5 comments:

  1. Those books are really really the greatest books! I hope one day to take my kids on a tour to some of the places Laura grew up.

    I love that you even did the whole carrot thing! I always wondered why, in such a time of necessity and survival they would go to the trouble of adding the grated carrot for color. Does it change the taste at all?

    When we struggle with our finances, I want my husband to read this series - because it so reads like instructional books on living off nothing, well the land, the woods ect! I was always fascinated that in this day in age when most children are so inundated with media and entertainment, that my children actually sat and listened with fascination (ok not 100% of the time) to how Pa smoked meat, or how he made this, or made that! I think it's time we started Little House in the big woods again. I have to say though, I think Farmer Boy is my favorite. His mother was amazing....spinning, then weaving, then sewing the fabric she had spun and had woven - wow. And her pantry! I only wish one day mine would be like hers:)

    OK, sorry for using your comments to write a blog post!!!!!!

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    1. Oh I will NEVER know how his mother did all that! And we think we don't have enough hours in the day! No, the carrot did not change the flavor of the butter at all. It was fun to add that part in.

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  2. Such wonderful experiences for your kids!

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  3. Hi. I am a silent follower of you blog but I just wanted you to know that I love it. The vibrant colors, your way with words, your amazing crafting & sewing abilities, the love you have for your children and husband, and the great memories you are creating for your children. Your children are so precious. It actually brought tears to my eyes when you posted recently "There is Love Here". I have 2 young daughters (6 and 3) and you have inspired me to start a blog for them. I am terrible at writing things down and my second child has maybe 3 pages filled out in her baby book. My plan is to eventually print out my blog in book form--that can be their baby book.
    Good job momma!

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    1. Wow! Thank you for these amazing words! I'm speechless. Please don't remain a silent follower b/c I think you have the gift of encouragement and hey, we can all use encouragement right? :) I hope you do start a blog and when you do, I'll love to read it. It is definitely an outlet for me. I have wanted to print mine out as a book too but not sure how to do that. Anyways, I'm glad you're here and no longer silent. ;)

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